Visakhapatnam: Cops destroy 80 acres of ganja fields

VISAKHAPATNAM: In an attempt to curb the ganja menace in the Vizag tribal belt of Andhra Pradesh, the Visakha Rural Police destroyed the ganja fields on Saturday.
Visakha Rural Police, Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB), revenue, forest and ITDA officials destroyed 80 acres of ganja fields at Palamamidi panchayat G Madugula mandal in Visakha agency area.
Around 130 people, including 75 labourers, 26 SEB officials, police, forest, ITDA, and revenue officials participated in the programme led by Visakha Rural SP B Krishna Rao, SEB joint director Satish Kumar, and excise DC Babjee Rao.They cut the ganja plants with eight bush cutter machines.
B Krishna Rao and Satish Kumar said that ganja cultivation is high on the AOB borders, which are interior pockets and do not have proper road facilities, besides having Maoists influence in the areas. Addressing the ganja menace including its cultivation has become a herculean task for the enforcement wings because of the above factors, they said.
Special focus was put on ganja transportations by the Visakha Rural cops. They arrested 950 persons and registered 400 ganja cases since the beginning of this year. Rural cops set up check posts at various places to arrest ganja smugglers and also seized the material.
Visakha Rural Police urged the tribals to come forward and cooperate with the officials in curbing the ganja menace in the tribal area. “They should come forward like the people of Darakonda and Araku Valley where they destroyed ganja fields voluntarily,” Rural SP Krishna Rao said.